Sight words
High-Frequency Words 1 to 100
The 100 most common words in modern English by our ranking, from the and to you, with hangman, difficulty scores and a printable.
Read the word list
The first band holds the 100 most common words in our ranking, starting with the, to, and, of and a. It is almost all small function words: pronouns (he, she, they, we), prepositions (in, on, by, from) and the verbs be, have, do and can. These carry the grammar of English and do very little by themselves.
Because they are so common, 94 of the 100 are also on a Dolch list. The six that are not: more, people, also, other, than and most. If you teach kindergarten or first grade, this band is already familiar to you.
In hangman these words are hard. Our data shows that short words give the solver more wrong guesses on average than long ones, because a pattern like _ _ e fits so many words. So the, was, for and you can take several turns even though they look easy.
100 entries. Our solver needed 6.0 wrong guesses on average: 7 easy, 32 medium and 61 hard. The toughest is be (16 misses), the quickest a (0).
- the #1 Hard · 5
- to #2 Easy · 1
- and #3 Medium · 4
- of #4 Hard · 10
- a #5 Easy · 0
- in #6 Hard · 5
- I #7 Easy · 0
- is #8 Hard · 6
- for #9 Hard · 11
- that #10 Medium · 4
- you #11 Hard · 14
- it #12 Medium · 4
- on #13 Medium · 3
- with #14 Hard · 8
- this #15 Medium · 3
- was #16 Hard · 10
- be #17 Hard · 16
- as #18 Medium · 4
- are #19 Easy · 1
- have #20 Hard · 9
- at #21 Easy · 1
- he #22 Hard · 7
- not #23 Medium · 2
- by #24 Hard · 15
- but #25 Medium · 4
- from #26 Hard · 5
- my #27 Hard · 12
- or #28 Hard · 5
- we #29 Hard · 14
- an #30 Medium · 3
- your #31 Hard · 7
- all #32 Hard · 5
- so #33 Medium · 4
- his #34 Hard · 5
- they #35 Hard · 7
- me #36 Hard · 11
- if #37 Hard · 10
- one #38 Medium · 3
- can #39 Hard · 7
- will #40 Hard · 12
- just #41 Hard · 9
- like #42 Hard · 7
- about #43 Medium · 2
- up #44 Hard · 11
- out #45 Medium · 3
- what #46 Hard · 5
- has #47 Medium · 4
- when #48 Medium · 4
- more #49 Hard · 6
- do #50 Hard · 7
- no #51 Medium · 3
- were #52 Medium · 3
- who #53 Hard · 6
- had #54 Hard · 6
- their #55 Medium · 2
- there #56 Easy · 1
- her #57 Medium · 4
- which #58 Hard · 7
- time #59 Hard · 5
- get #60 Hard · 9
- been #61 Hard · 9
- would #62 Hard · 8
- she #63 Hard · 6
- new #64 Hard · 7
- people #65 Medium · 4
- how #66 Hard · 12
- some #67 Hard · 6
- also #68 Medium · 3
- them #69 Hard · 6
- now #70 Hard · 7
- other #71 Medium · 2
- its #72 Medium · 3
- our #73 Medium · 2
- than #74 Hard · 5
- good #75 Hard · 9
- only #76 Medium · 4
- after #77 Medium · 2
- first #78 Medium · 3
- him #79 Hard · 11
- into #80 Medium · 2
- know #81 Hard · 5
- see #82 Medium · 4
- two #83 Hard · 7
- make #84 Hard · 8
- over #85 Medium · 3
- think #86 Hard · 7
- any #87 Hard · 8
- then #88 Hard · 5
- could #89 Hard · 5
- back #90 Hard · 9
- these #91 Easy · 0
- us #92 Hard · 6
- want #93 Hard · 8
- because #94 Medium · 2
- go #95 Hard · 11
- well #96 Hard · 8
- said #97 Medium · 2
- way #98 Hard · 11
- most #99 Hard · 5
- much #100 Hard · 10
Words worth a closer look
- theRank one, and the e is the letter to guess first.
- peopleThe eo is the odd part; say it as peo and ple.
- becauseBreak into be and cause.
- wouldSame ending as could and should.
Teaching it
Take this band as a spelling base, not a reading list. Most students can read it quickly and still misspell the odd ones: would, could, their, because, people. Run the game, note which words cost the most guesses, and put those on a printed card.
Teach by chunks. In would, could and should, the ould part is the same and only the first letter changes. In they, the, them and then, the th opens each word. These families turn 100 separate words into about thirty things to learn.
Print a High-Frequency Words 1 to 100 worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- Dolch Sight WordsThe Dolch service words from pre-primer to third grade, with the history behind the list, a difficulty score for each word and hangman to practice.
- Pre-Primer Sight WordsThe 40 Dolch pre-primer words, the first level of the list, with hangman, difficulty scores and a printable worksheet and answer key.
- Primer Sight WordsAll 52 Dolch primer words, from all and am to who and yes, with hangman, per-word difficulty and a printable worksheet.
- First Grade Sight WordsThe 41 Dolch first-grade words, from after and again to walk and when, with hangman, difficulty scores and a worksheet.
- Second Grade Sight WordsThe 47 Dolch second-grade words, including because, their, would and don't, with hangman, difficulty scores and a printable.
- Third Grade Sight WordsThe 41 Dolch third-grade words, such as laugh, light, together and myself, with hangman, difficulty scores and a printable worksheet.